Motion and Transportation

Moon projectileStamp illustrating Jules Verne's story 'Flight to the moon'. The manned projectile is shown with a trail of fire and smoke behind it, as if it were rocket-propelled. In Verne's book however, it was fired from a cannon, and not self-propelled.(HUNGARY - 1969)

Strange sky meetingYes, the Concorde is a supersonic plane ! But crossing a satellite in the atmosphere is still out of range !(ZAIRE - 1978)

Smoking rocketA rocket in space, outside the atmosphere, does not leave a trail of smoke behind !(HUNGARY - 1965)

Identical registration numbers !Often considered as an error : two planes with identical registration numbers DM-WKM. But take a closer look at the upside-down plane : its registration number is slightly different : DM-WKN !(GERMAN DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC - 1968)

Missing tailYou do not need to be a specialist to understand that a plane cannot fly correctly without a tail !(FRANCE - 1936)

Forgotten escaper towerThe escape tower is still attached to the Mercury capsule, while it is flying around the earth.(CZECHOSLOVAKIA - 1964)

Smokefree zeppelin !Windows in the gas reservoir of a zeppelin ? I do hope they have told the passengers to wear their gasmasks, and not to smoke !(PARAGUAY - )

Inverted crossInverted German cross on the tail of this plane(GERMANY - 1944)

Landing on the MoonStamp showing the Luna 9 circling around the Moon, with panels outspread as it would be landing shortly(ROMANIA - 1966)

Upside downThe green earth lies on top, this plane is flying upside down… Not a common view for a stamp, as the only place where you can see such a view, is from another plane, also flying upside down !(CANADA - 1981)

Strange planeTo avoid advertising any particular type of plane, this stamp shows a composite type which not only never existed but would never have flown.(UNITED STATES OF AMERICA - 1941)

Why planes ?There were no planes in the sky during the parade organized to celebrate the liberation of Paris.(UNITED STATES OF AMERICA - 1945)

Missing propellerNo appearance of propellers on the right engine of this plane(UNITED STATES OF AMERICA - 1987)

Inversion or not ?Seems an inverted Nazi-cross, but ...the blus swastika is a symbol a goor fortune in Finland, going back to 1918.(EQUATORIAL GUINEA - 1977)

Wrong registration marks.Series of stamps showing a plane flying over various Belgian cities. However this plane does not bore the Belgian marks (OO) but the Italian registration marks (I).(BELGIUM - 1930)

Big shadowAs the sun is far away, the shadow of a plane on earth can never be larger than the plane itself.(CAMEROON - )

Unsafe planeThe upper wing of this airplane has no connection with the fuselage, and the propeller is at an impossible angle(CHINA - 1921)

Blocked propellerPlane high in the sky with immobile propeller(COSTA RICA - 1934)

Wrong timeThis spatial vessel landed on the moon exactly at 22h02min24sec. The DDR stamp is correct, the stamp from Hungary missed the landing by 10 seconds(HUNGARY - 1959)

Wrong nameThis stamp depicts the TRANSIT 2A satellite, but labelled it as the SAN MARCO-satellite.(HUNGARY - 1965)

Wrong languageIf a name was written outside this russian vessel, it ought to have been in Cyrylllian letters, not in the Latin alphabet.(HUNGARY - 1965)

Wrong side.As shown by the picture, the LZ-HINDENBURG touched the ground with his rear before being destroyed.(MALI - 1977)

Large shadow.As the sun is far away, the sunbeams are almost parallel, thus the shadow of a plane on earth can never be larger than the plane itself.(MONACO - 1941)

Large shadow.As the sun is far away, the sunbeams are almost parallel, thus the shadow of a plane on earth can never be larger than the plane itself.(MONACO - 1941)

Wrong spacecraft.Stamp featuring Yuri Gagarin, the first man in space, with an American Mercury spacecraft, instead of a Russian Vostok I.(MONGOLIA - 1961)

Big plane !As the sun is far away, the sunbeams are almost parallel, thus the shadow of a plane on earth can never be larger than the plane itself.(NEW CALEDONIA - 1940)

Big shadowAs the sun is far away from the earth, the sunbeams are almost parallel. Thus the shadow of a plane on earth cannot be taller than the plane itself.(REUNION - 1947)

Wrong registration number.The registration number of this aircraft is not a real number, but he name of a pilot, CRAIU, who died some years before. (ROMANIA - 1928)

Open doors.Spacewalk with open doors !(RUSSIA - 1965)

Wrong representationThe plane of A. Dumont did not have a tail wheel.(SAN MARINO - 1962)

Without enginesThis Boeing 767 was depicted without engines(CANADA - 1987)

Impossible meetingThe stamp shows the Russian spacecrafts Vostok 2 and 3 flying together, however on August 12-15 1962 only the Vostok 3 and 4 were in space. (MONGOLIA - 1971)

Inverted logotypeThe logotype on the plane tail is reversed.(PAPUA NEW GUINEA - 1970)

Wrong immatriculationThe identification of the Junkers F13 that belonged to the Lutherian Mission Finschafen was VH-UTS. The VH-UTM was a GAL ST-12 Monospar that disappeared above Queensland on 16.2.1942 (PAPUA NEW GUINEA - )

Wrong dateThe GRAF-ZEPPELIN LZ-127 was built in 1927, not in 1924(MALI - 1977)

Wrong rocketThis is not a Gemeni 4 rocket, but an Atlas one.(AJMAN - 1970)

Wrong typeThe first dog was sent in space in a Spoutnik II spacecraft, the stamps however features a Spoutnik III. See Russian stamp with the 3 types of Spoutnik.(ALBANIA - 1962)

Wrong dateLunik III was launched on 4.10.1959, not on 4.11.1959 as shown on the stamp (ALBANIA - 1963)

Wrong plane10th anniversary of the flight over the South pole by Argentina. This was done by Douglas DC3 planes, not by the featured bombers.(ARGENTINA - 1973)

ModernisationThe British registration letters G-AUSU in 1928 were substituted with the Australian VH-USU letters of 1958. And in 1928, this plane had only two-bladed propellers, not three as shown here. (AUSTRALIA - 1958)

Wrong colourThe inscription on this Zeppelin was in black colour, not in red.(CONGO REPUBLIC - 1977)

No atmosphereThere is no atmosphere neither oxygen around the moon, it is impossible that flames will leave the engine.(TOGO - )

Wrong planeThe Austrian airlines never owned DC8 planes, Austrian planes do not have A but CO registration letters, the nose of Austgrian planes do not have three lines.(AUSTRIA - 1968)

Too closeThis Zeppelin is much too close to the castle. And he cannot fly from left to right, as there is an hill at the left side of the castle.(LIECHTENSTEIN - 1979)

Quite dangerousFlying plane with stopped engine(GERMANY - 2008)

Two errorsTwo errors : plane is not an ME-109F but a Fiat-G50, name of the pilot is OIVA, not DIVA.(EQUATORIAL GUINEA - 1977)

Strange rocketThe rocket exists only in the imagination of the stamp designer(NORTH KOREA - 1962)

PrototypeThis plane is a prototype, that was never built.(CAMEROON - 1942)

Canon or rocket ?Stamp illustrating Jules Verne's story 'Flight to the moon'. The manned projectile leaves a trail of smoke, as if it were rocket-propelled. In Verne's book however, it was fired by a canon.(CAMEROON - 1980)

Never builtThe construction of the Canadian deltaplane 'Avro Arrow' was abandoned some weeks before this stamp was issued.(CANADA - 1959)

Strange airplaneThis airplane, with a too long fuselage and without propellers, is unable to fly.(GERMANY - 1919)

Not adapted planeMajor F. Novak was a famous stunt- and figther pilot. It would have been more suitable to represent him with a Spitfire or a Hurricane, instead of a Westland-Lysander aircraft, a slow reconnaissance plane.. (CZECHOSLOVAKIA - 1946)

Wrong planeThe first arial UK mail was carried by a Bleriot. But the stamps shows a Farman biplane in the air, and a Bleriot monoplane on the ground.(FALKLAND ISLANDS - 1974)

Strange rocketsThe rockets exist only in the imagination of the stamp designer(VIET NAM - 1965)

Little mistake50th anniversary of airmail : by mistake the personal plane of Hitler was pictured on this stamp.(GERMANY - 1969)

Not accurateOn the special cancellation, the American Mustang P51 has both insignia on the upper side of the wings, instead of one on the upper left and one on the lower right.(GERMANY - 1979)

Small differenceThe photo shows a walking bridge running all the way under the ship, on the stamp it is divided in several sections.(GERMANY - 1978)

No balloonIn the book of Jules Verne Around the world in 80 days, there is no mention of any balloon.(GRENADA GRENADINES - 1979)

Wrong nameThis is not the SZONDA 3 but the LUNIK 3 : the Russian stamp shows the same engine with the correct name.(HUNGARY - 1965)

Wrong yearThe space trip of C.Conrad and R. Gordon took place between 12 and 15 December 1966, not in 1965(HUNGARY - 1966)

.No connexion25th anniversary of Lufthansa : but neither the ME109, the TU144 nor the Concorde are connected to the Lufthansa.(NORTH KOREA - 1980)

Wrong ZeppelinThe zeppelin which flew over Berlin in 1936 was not the portrayed Graf Zeppelin with five engines, but the Hindenburg, with four engines and with special markings for this flight.(MALAGASY - 1976)

Little detailAt the air rally of 1914, this Farman owned by Renaux was equipped with skis to be able to land on water.(MONACO - 1964)

Too bigThe shadow of a plane on earth cannot be bigger than the plane itself. (MOROCCO - 1946)

Too bigThe shadow of this plane is much too big, cannot be larger than the plane itself.(NEW ZEALAND - 1950)

Wrong dateThe first flight of the Concorde took place on March 2nd 1969, not on May 2nd 1969.(NIGER - 1972)

Missing pontoonThis sea-plane will have difficulties to land with only one pontoon.(SWEDEN - 1936)

Not the firstThe FR-1 satellite is wrongly labelled as the first French Satellite, for the A1 had been launched 10 days before.(POLAND - 1966)

Wrong dateStamp issued in 1923 for the inauguration of the Postal Air Services. The lanch was however postponed until the following year. Meanwhile there had been a change in currency : the surcharge conviently covered most of the wrong date.(RUSSIA - 1923)

Wrong antennasThe antennas of the Sputnik I on the stamp have less in common with the antennas on the real Sputnik I.(GERMAN DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC - 1957)

Non existing planesTo not advertise any kind of plane, the stamp shows a non existing mixture of different planes.(SAUDI ARABIA - 1941)

Non existent stampTo not advertise any kind of plane, the stamp shows a non existing mixture of different planes.(UNITED STATES OF AMERICA - 1944)

Sill connectedThe space capsule is in orbit around the earth with the escape device, that is disconnected just before launch, still attached.(HUNGARY - 1962)

Sill connectedThe space capsule is in orbit around the earth with the escape device, that is disconnected just before launch, still attached.(HUNGARY - 1962)

Two errorsThe space walk of Leonov did not happen above Italy, and the doors of the vessel, of course, do not remain open.(HUNGARY - 1966)

Still connectedWhen the two vessels met, they were in orbit around the earth, and not connected anymore to the last stage of the launching rocket.(HUNGARY - 1966)

Wrong planeA Farman biplane is shown on a stamp commemorating the first U.K. air mail flight. This first flight however, was made by Gustav Hamel in a Bleriot.(UNITED KINGDOM - 1974)

Wrong planeThis is not the Imperial Airways Flying Boat from 1937, but the Maia, a later adaption with special superstructure on its wings, and not delivered until June 1938. ((UNITED KINGDOM - 1974)

Flying problemsThis angels with only one wing will not fly easily, and the plane without rudders will not fly at all.(CANADA - )

No atmosphèreThe use of parachutes on the moon where there is no atmosphere ? Not quite a good idea.(ROMANIA - 1972)

Missing letterWrong : HAVILAND - Correct : HAVILLAND.(GRENADA - 1985)

Strange vesselThis spacial vessel, with a combustion engine, makes an impossible turn in space. (UNITED STATES OF AMERICA - 1993)

Error in nameThe exact name of this helicopter is Vought-Sikorsky VH-300, the stamp mistakenly gives it the name Vogt. (UNITED STATES OF AMERICA - 1988)

Not the firstLabeling the flights of the Wright Brothers the 'first powered flights' is not quite correct, as a lot of people before them experimented with flying engines.(UNITED STATES OF AMERICA - 1953)

Additional letterDeperdussin is spelled with 2 'p'.(PARAGUAY - 1980)

Too big shadowThe plane's shadow has almost the same size as the country.(UPPER VOLTA - 1961)

Stopped engineThe engine seems to be switched off, while the helicopter is flying.(POLAND - )

Wrong yearThis plane was not built in 1904, but in 1908 : it is a Wright A 1908.(SAN MARINO - )

Not quite correctThis is not a rocket, but a rocket-plane with a cockpit. (GABON - 1962)

Fired from a cannonIn Jules Verne's book, the rocket that brought men to the moon was fired from a cannon and was not self propelled. (GABON - 1965)

Wrong methodLanding with a parachute on Jupiter, where there is no atmosphere ?(COMORO ISLANDS - )